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INDEPENDENT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017 /<strong>Independent</strong>ngr @independentngr www.independent.ng D7
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CROSSWORD
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AYODEJI Ajayi
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ayodejideajayi@gmail.com
I
recall vividly with profound pride
and nostalgia that as privileged undergraduate
in the then prestigious
Department of Mass Communication,
University of Lagos, several years ago, I
can say, unequivocally, that the Nigerian
education sector had public universities
that were truly centres of excellence, in
terms of meaningful teaching, learning,
research, as well as sustainable partnerships
and relationship between universities
and their immediate environments.
In those days, reputable public
universities especially, University of
Ibadan, University of Lagos, University
of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, were not only centres
of academic excellence, they were also
passionately patronised by many eminent
parents and guardians that wanted their
children and wards to attend these frontline
universities. Consequently, it was
not surprising that, unlike other public
universities, this set of unique tertiary
institutions attracted dedicated, hardworking,
visionary, honest, intelligent,
and detribalised Vice-Chancellors, Registrars
and Bursars. The Vice-Chancellors
were highly revered for discharging their
responsibilities with unquestionable
CHUKWUDI OBI
On The Senate, Ports And Revenue Leakages
One is constrained to join issues
with “Mr. Yahaya Sadique”, supposedly
a Kaduna-based writer
over an article authored by him
and published recently in THISDAY. The
article entitled “The Senate, Ports and
revenue leakages” is, to say the least, a
disservice to the cause of truth. Although
it hinges its premise on the ports and attempts
by the senate to investigate alleged
revenue leakages at the ports, it dwells
extensively on a statement recently issued
by respected elder statesman and former
Military Governor of Kaduna State, Col.
Umar Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd).
And that is really pathetic.
One finds it distasteful that “Mr.
Sadique” would disparage a man who
has remained one of the most committed
patriots and has never shied away from
speaking his mind on national issue, no
matter how contentious they are. To insinuate
that the statesman is under the
influence of the NPA, is to say the least, a
disgraceful position not expected of anyone
conversant with our national history
and national interest at heart.
But it does not seem that the writer under
discussion is in tune with the current
state of affairs going by the content of his
article, especially as it concerns the NPA.
Anyone familiar with the current state of
affairs at the NPA would readily testify
to the increasing level of transparency
at the agency.
Just on Tuesday this week, a report in
The Nation quoted a statesman and former
Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun
Probe Of Vice-Chancellors
integrity and this was attributed to the
unflinching support received from relevant
stakeholders. But today, more than
four decades after graduation, it saddens
my troubled mind whenever I ruminate
over the current decaying infrastructure,
economic and financial rot, fast declining
quality of education, mass production of
unemployable graduates, as well as unending
moral decadence bedevilling virtually
all public universities across the
country. As it is in public hospitals, including
university teaching hospitals, often
described as mere consulting clinics, most
of the public universities are not better
than glorified secondary schools.
It is unfortunate that rather than set
up the number of universities they can
successfully cater for and ensure they are
adequately funded for uninterrupted academic
calendars, as well as world-class
academic standards in terms of teaching,
learning, research and quality of graduates
produced, in-line with global best practices,
successive administrations, especially
since the return of civil rule in 1999, have
indiscriminately established new universities,
some of which have not fully taken
off, based on primordial reasons such as
politics and geographical location.
No wonder rather than serve as citadel
of outstanding academic accomplishments,
compared with their counterparts
on the African continent or indeed, worldwide,
none of Nigeria’s public universities
meets global standards. This explains why,
except private universities, virtually all
those owned by federal and state governments
are continuously gasping for breath,
largely due to inadequate funding, mismanagement
and unbridled corruption.
It is disgusting that these days, unlike
in the past, Vice-Chancellors, Registrars
Osoba as saying the following about the
new administration at the NPA. “If anybody
is complaining about Hadiza Bala
Usman…it must be that such people are
not transparent. And if you are not transparent
and compliant to the rules and regulation
of NPA, you will run into troubled
waters with Hadiza Bala Usman.”
How does this differ from Umar comments
made about her just a few hours
before Osoba said the foregoing?
It is unfortunate that it is this same person
that Sadique is accusing of not just
embarking on a media campaign against
the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise
&Tariffs and Marine Transport, but
recruiting “supporters” in an imaginary
media trial.
From what I have read about the NPA
in the past couple of months, its management
has shown commendable commitment
to instituting a culture of transparency
at the organisation.
Concerning their relationship with the
Senate, the only public comments that can
be attributed to the NPA are those which
offered explanations on issues raised by
the Senate committees and went on to assure
of its readiness to provide further
information. Two examples of these are
statements entitled: “NPA welcomes Senate’s
investigation of its JV Enterprises,”
published in the July 7, 2017 edition of
Leadership and “No evidence of 282 missing
vessels, says NPA,” published in the
July 27, edition of THISDAY. From this, it
is evident that the NPA does not need any
mouthpiece to communicate its opinion
to stakeholders in the Nigerian project.
Having said that, there is a need to
and Bursars of public universities, constantly
visit offices of Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
for questioning over alleged financial irregularities.
This is shameful; whereas
Vice-Chancellors, being Chief Executive
Officers rather than corrupt political leaders,
are expected to demonstrate sterling
leadership qualities for others to emulate.
Public university Vice-Chancellors are not
different from politicians because they are
appointed either by the President in the
case of federal universities or by governors
for those owned by state governments.
Since many of such appointments are not
based on merit but political, religious or
personal considerations, the Vice-Chancellors
have no option but dance rhythmically
to tunes of their benefactors, at the
expense of the success and survival of the
university system, which is currently in a
big mess. Like the sickening Nigerian polity,
public universities have been polluted
and require sweeping sanitisation for the
entire university system to regain its lost
glory. For years, accounts of many public
universities have not been audited and this
has given room for corruption.
It is amazing that most of the reports of
inquiry into financial irregularities involving
some Vice-Chancellors, Registrars and
Bursars are yet to be released. Also, those
that were indicted in some state universities
were merely sacked and allowed to
go away and sin no more, instead of being
penalised to serve as a deterrent. Having
realised none of their indicted predecessors
has been punished for financial profligacy,
this has invariably emboldened more
Vice-Chancellors and other principal officers
to engage in corrupt practices. However,
this raging endemic problem posing incalculable
threat to survival of university
highlight part of the report in ‘The Nation’
of August 3, 2017, which he quoted in
his article. He had written: “…To support
this position, which Col. Umar seemed to
align to, the same publication stated more
than four instances where vessels had
come to Calabar Port and exited the Port
without any proper documentation.” He
went ahead to list these occasions when
vessels were not properly documented
and concluded that: “If these are true,
then the NPA has tacitly admitted that,
indeed, vessels enter the Nigerian waters
and disappear without documentation.
This tacit admission validates the position
of the Senate that, indeed, vessels do
enter Nigeria’s territorial waters under
the watch of the NPA and exit without
documentation, hence the Public Hearing
by Senate to look at the revenue leakages
in the Ports. This tacit admission by the
NPA, therefore, explains the aversion of
the MD of the Nigerian Ports Authority to
honour the invitation of the Senate Committee
and testify at the Public Hearing.”
My own understanding of the part of
the report in The Nation is different. In
my own understanding, the ships quoted
in the article by “Mr Sadique” have
nothing to do with the 282 ships that were
said to be missing. On the contrary, they
explicate the conclusion of the investigations
into actives of the Calabar Channel
Management Company and the attempt
to hoodwink the NPA by the appearance
and disappearance of these ships which
were supposed to have been deployed as
part of the company’s dredging contract.
Furthermore, in the THISDAY report
of July 27, earlier cited, the NPA explained
education in Nigeria must not be allowed
to persist. Protection of interests of lecturers,
students and the university system to
ensure smooth operations on campuses to
avoid disruption of academic calendars is
now a paramount responsibility of owners
of public universities.
Recent disclosure by Executive Secretary
of National Universities Commission
(NUC), Professor Adbulrasheed Abubakar,
that Ibrahim Magu-led EFCC would soon
commence investigations into financial
irregularities involving some Vice-Chancellors
and Bursars of federal universities
is a welcome development that is long overdue.
Apart from alleging that some VCs
live above their means, Abubakar revealed
that most of the 40 federal universities can
hardly generate enough funds for themselves.
I recall that earlier this year, President
Muhammadu Buhari had hinted that
his administration would probe federal
universities. The president’s pronouncement
clearly shows the disturbing level of
financial rot in many federal universities
and urgent need to stem the tide and save
the system from total collapse.
EFCC should in the spirit of government’s
anti-corruption crusade, ensure
the investigations are thorough and that
those found culpable are severely punished
to serve as a deterrent to others. Vice-Chancellors,
by virtue of their sacred duties are
expected to exhibit exemplary conduct in
management of affairs of their institutions.
Whoever indulges in corrupt practices
no matter how highly connected, should
face the wrath of the law. It is unacceptable
for public university authorities to be agitating
for full autonomy when their institutions
continuously depend largely on
grants from government and even funds
collected are yet to be accounted for.
that it was presented with a number of
documents on July 20, 2017 while another
set was passed on to it through the Nigerian
Shippers Council on July 24, 2017.
The report said after looking through
the documents, the NPA discovered that
of the 29 items handed over to it, only five
vessels were identifiable with the other 24
items being repetitions of the five identified
vessels.
The THISDAY report further said the
organisation was unable to conduct a
meaningful review of the documents sent
through the Nigerian Shippers Council
because they did not include data like vessel
names, arrival date of vessels, port of
arrival, name of terminal and no rotation
number of vessels, that will enable verification.
It also said that the situation had been
communicated to the Senate Committee.
What is clear from the administration
of the NPA is that it is committed to the
war against indiscipline of Buhari administration.
And as it concerns Col. Umar,
one does not know what a man of his conviction,
a man who stood against wrong
decisions taken by his superiors in the
military, should be accused of falsehood
by “Sadique”.
For me, Col. Umar called the attention
of Nigerians to issues that are pertinent
to national survival. It is a period in our
country when men and women of virtue
are scarce, Umar is one of such and we
should not grudge him for identifying
people like him and standing with them.
No, we should not!
Obi, a maritime business Analyst, wrote in
from Lagos.